Machine gun and automatic small arms



NOV. 1938. p R HIGSQN 2,137,612

MACHINE GUN AND AUTOMATIC SMALL ARM Filed May 4, 1937' 3Sheets-Sheet'lINVENTOR PERCY REL/BEN HIGSON Filed May 4, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR 5 5 m a H W N m U A 5 4 Nov. 22, 1938. P. R. HIGSON 2,137,612

MACHINE GUN AND AUTOMATIC SMALL ARM Filed May 4, 19:57 5 Sheets-Sheet 5rw v INVENT QR PERCY REUBEN H IGSON ATTORNEV5 1 Patented Nov. 22, 1938j: Y

omen srA'rEs PATEN other to Vickers-Annstrong Limited, Westminster,England, a British company Application May 4, 1937, Serial No. 140,614In Great Britain May 13, 1936 This invention relates to machine guns andenable the breech body and the barrel in operaautomatic small arms andespecially to machine tion to be locked together firmly but in a-quicklyguns of the gas operated type and intended more releasable manner, therearwardly projecting particularly for use in tanks. extremity ofzthebarrel entering a recess in the The-chief object of the invention is toevolve breech body; I I 5 a construction of'machine gun or automaticsmall In Figures 1, 2-and .3, the left hand barrel is arm in whichbarrelchange is facilitated whereby shown in operation and with thisarrangement a cool barrel may be quickly brought into operawhen it isdesired to change .over from one barrel tion in substitution for onewhich has become to the other, theloc'king bolt "or nut is first rehotor otherwise temporarily or permanently leased, thus enablingthe breechbody to be com- All rendered unfit for use, and in which the operapletely removed from the rearwardly projecting tion of changing from onebarrel to another can extremity 'of the one barrel and placed in posibeeffected within a confined space as for example tion upon the extremityof the adjacent barrel,

within a tank. 7 I the locking bolt or nut being then tightened tozmachine gun or automatic small arm consecure the parts firmly together.15. structed in accordance with the invention in- In the modifiedarrangement illustrated by cludes aplurality of barrels in combinationwith a Figures 4 to 7, the barrels 9, two of which are single commonbreech mechanism, the breech preferably provided, are movable relativelyto the body or barrels or both being relatively movable breech body l0,and also relatively to a common to enable any one of the barrels to bebrought gas cylinder H, the barrels being partially rotat- 20 intooperation at one time. able as a whole within the mounting l2 so that Inorder that the invention may be clearly either may be brought intoregister with the understood and readily carried into efiect, the breechmechanism as required. same will now be more fully described with refer-With this arrangement the breech body I0, ence to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:- gas cylinder II and its associated piston are 25Figure 1 represents in side elevation the barsecured to the gimbal orother mounting l2, the rels, mounting and a portion of the breechmechbarrels 9 being carried by a partially rotatable anism of a machinegun constructed in accordblock l3 spigoted on a projection forming partance with the invention. of the gun casing and cylinder and at the frontFigure 2 is a view of the gun looking from the end to an armoured disc Mwhich spigots on the 30 rear. front end of the gimbal.

Figure 3 is a plan view. The barrels have independent gas blocks l5,Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section illusheld together by meansof an extension ll of the trating a modified construction. gas cylinder,and arranged so as to compensate Figure 5 is a transverse section on theline for the longitudinal expansion or contraction of 35 A--B in Figure4. the individual barrels. Each barrel 9 has a port Figure 6 is a rearelevation of the mounting l6 communicating with the gas block port I8,shown in Figure 4, the breech mechanism having and which only alignswith the cylinder port I1,

been removed, and when that particular barrel is in position for fir-Figure 7 is a side elevation, the breech mechaing. The barrel out of usehas its gas port 40 nism being again omitted. blanked off. The partiallyrotatable block l3 In the construction illustrated by Figures 1 carryingthe barrels is adapted to be locked in to 3, the machine gun orautomatic small arm ineither of its terminal positions by means of aeludes two barrels l disposed side by side and spring urged catch I9(see Figures 6 and 7) carried by a gimbal, ball, or similar part of aadapted to enter either of two holes or recesses 45 mounting 2, a gascylinder 3 and gas block 4 20 (only one of which is shown, the otherhole being associated with each barrel and arranged being engaged by thecatch) formed in the beneath in the usual manner. The breech bodymounting I2 adjacent each terminal position, the 5 is so arranged thatit can be moved out of catch I!) being carried by an arm or lever 21register with the one barrel and into register with secured to the blockl2 and by which the latter 50 the other barrel when it is necessary tochange may be rotated, the barrels being rotatable over, the rearwardlyprojecting part 6 of each throughout an angle of 90 or as required. Eachbarrel having locking teeth or projections I for barrel 9 projectsrearwardly of the block I2, the co-operating with corresponding parts ofa lockrearwardly projecting extremities 22 of the baring nut or bolt 8carried by the breech body to rels having teeth or projections 23adapted to 55 engage corresponding teeth or projections in the breechbody I!) when their associated barrel is in its operative position.

In operation, it is merely necessary when changing from one barrel tothe other to disengage the spring urged catch on the mounting and rotatethe barrels throughout the necessary angle, the spring urged catch beingthus engaged with the remaining hole or recess in the mount: ing, theprojections or teeth on the rearwardly projecting parts of the barrel tobe brought into operation automatically co-operating with thecorresponding teeth or projections in the breech body. The rotationalmovement of the gas block relative to the fixed gas cylinder whenbringing a fresh barrel into operation automatically closes the port tothe old barrel and at the same time opens the port to the newpne.

As hereinbefore stated, the invention is particularly suitable for usein connection with guns which are intended for use in tanks or otherconfined spaces where the barrel itself is'not easily accessible andconsequently could not easily be removed from the mounting andexchanged.

What I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United Statesis:--

1. A machine gun or automatic small arm of the gas operated typecomprising a mounting, a plurality of barrels, a breech body and gascylinder common to all of said barrels, said barrels being revolublymounted within said mounting about the axis of said gas cylinder so asto bring any one of said barrels individually into register with saidbreech body and into communication with said gas cylinder, a gas blockassociated with each barrel and having a gas port communicating with itsassociated barrel and adapted to register with a further port in saidgas cylinder when its associated barrel is in the firing position inwhich it' registers with the breech body.

2. A machine gun or automatic small arm of the gas operated typecomprising a mounting, a plurality of barrels, a breech body and gascylinder common to all of said barrels, said barrels being revolublymounted within said mounting about the axis of said gas cylinder so asto bring any one of said barrels individually into register with saidbreech body and into communication with said gas cylinder, a separategas block associated with each barrel and having a port for connectingits associated barrel when in the firing position with said gascylinder, the gas blocks of all the barrels being loosely connectedtogether to allow of longitudinal expansion of the individual barrels.

3. A machine gun or automatic small arm of the gas operated typecomprising a mounting, a plurality of barrels, a breech body and gascylinder common to all of said barrels, said barrels being revolublymounted within said mounting about the axis of said gas cylinder so asto bring any one of said barrels individually into register.

with said breech body and into communication with said gas cylinder,means for rotating said barrels to bring any one of said barrels intoregister with said breech body, and teeth on each ofpsaid barrelsco-operating with correspondingly' shaped teeth on said breech body formaintaining each respective barrel in operative relationship with saidbreech body when desired.

PERCY REUBEN HIGSON.

